Much was made by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and his Department around these approvals. They are heralded as being the first “in a series of renewable energy projects on public lands under final review by the Department of the Interior that would provide thousands of U.S. jobs and advance U.S. clean energy technologies.” Both projects will offer a total combined potential of up to 754 megawatts of renewable energy, or enough to power 226,000 – 566,000 typical American homes. They will also generate almost 1,000 new jobs.

The smaller Chevron project, meanwhile, will employ photo-voltaic solar technology on 422 acres of public lands in San Bernardino County. Its Recovery Act share will total around $31 million. Both projects, which underwent thorough environmental reviews, had to have been approved by the DOI by year’s end and under construction in order to qualify for the Recovery Act funding.

“There are 11 million acres of public lands in the California Desert, and a large majority of those lands are managed for conservation purposes,” Salazar said in a statement. “These projects, while a significant commitment of public land, actually represent less than one-hundredth of one percent of that total area. Given the many benefits, the extensive mitigation measures, and the fair market value economic return, approval of these projects is clearly in the public interest.”

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I am the editor-in-chief and founder for EarthTechling. This site is my desire to bring the world of green technology to consumers in a timely and informative matter. Prior to this my previous ventures have included a strong freelance writing career and time spent at Silicon Valley start ups.